Preakness winner has made meteoric rise in his last 2 starts, upsetting the Pat Day Mile on Kentucky Derby Day at Churchill Downs. Belmont would be third start in 5 weeks. 88-year-old trainer D. Wayne Lukas has won 15 Triple Crown races. Hall of Fame sire Arrogate missed the '16 Triple Crown, but won the Travers/Breeders' Cup Classic.
Wood Memorial winner finished 6th in the Kentucky Derby after momentarily taking the lead at the top of the stretch. Fourth-place effort in the Risen Star at Fair Grounds behind Sierra Leone. Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott won the 2010 Belmont with Drosselmeyer.
Runner-up in both starts this year, the Lexington at Keeneland and the Peter Pan at Aqueduct. Won Saratoga's Funny Cide Stakes at age 2 and returns to the scene of his most recent stakes victory.
Peter Pan Stakes winner will be making his Triple Crown series debut for 4-time Belmont Stakes-winning trainer Todd Pletcher. The barn also won the 2007 Belmont with a TC unveiling by the filly Rags to Riches.
Full-brother to 2023 Kentucky Derby winner Mage finished 10th in his bid to follow up in his big bro's success in Louisville. Winner of Aqueduct's Remsen and Gulfstream's Fountain of Youth, he debuted 2nd at Saratoga last summer.
Maiden exits third-place finishes in the Peter Pan and Wood Memorial at Aqueduct. No lack in pedigree as his dam Grace Hall was a Grade 1 winner at Saratoga, he's a maternal grandson of '03 Belmont winner Empire Maker and his sire Medaglia d'Oro was 2nd in this race in '02 and went on to win Saratoga's Jim Dandy, Travers &
Troubled trip 8th in the Kentucky Derby, he's pointed for the Belmont since. Last win came in November's Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes Stakes at Churchill. First Triple Crown starter for trainer Whit Beckman, a former assistant to Todd Pletcher & Chad Brown, was in the Derby.
Nose runner-up in the Kentucky Derby is a mere 2 noses short of being unbeaten in his career. Lugging in late has been an issue and trainer Chad Brown turns to Flavien Prat on a jockey change from Tyler Gaffalione. Likely Belmont favorite.
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Most lightly raced contender in this year's Belmont has won both starts, a Gulfstream maiden and a Kentucky Derby Day undercard allowance at Churchill Downs. Win margins were 13-3/4 and 7-1/2 lengths in those blowouts. Trainer Todd Pletcher is a 4-time Belmont Stakes winner.
